From the Forbes headquarters in the New York area, I edit Forbes Asia magazine, which circulates from Pakistan to Japan to New Zealand. I also follow business developments across the world. I am a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and treasurer of the Overseas Press Club of America. Twitter: @ForbesEditor. Circle me on Google+

Asia's Week: If They Held That Election and Nobody Came

Sometimes you hear this variation on a popular phrase of the 1960s: What if they held an election and nobody came? Asia seems to be putting its own spin on the question.

On Sunday, Bangladesh is holding a national vote. The country, 8th most populous in the world, has many difficulties as we know. It is doubtful that even a spirited contest could bring about quick solutions, but instead one of the two big electoral blocs is boycotting. No surprise: the party of the current ruler, Sheikh Hasina, pulled out of an election in 2007. Disturbances followed and the military intervened

Bangladeshi strongwoman Sheikh Hasina (Photo: Wikipedia)

(trouble is also feared this time) until finally a ballot put Ms. Hasina in four years ago. She’s gone on to bully various foes, from an old Islamist agitator–he was hanged in December–to the most respected guy in Bangladesh, Muhammad Yunus, the micro-lender who won the Nobel Peace Prize. At least the prime minister is someone with whom the Chinese can do business. (India, too, ironically.)

Bangladeshi apparel factories have become notorious for unsafe and unpleasant working conditions, and local industry barons appear to receive favorable treatment from the state. Notwithstanding this, or because of it, overall GDP had finally begun to outrace population growth. (The country also has an under-appreciated pharma sector.) But the main opposition–itself led by a former female prime minister, Begum Khaleda Zia–has been pushing disruptions to protest unfairness and output has ground down. (Meantime Ms. Zia complains she has been forcibly confined to home.) NGOs have complained of graft and corruption that is making powerful politicians rich. No wonder they’d like to stay in office. All the while, the conscience-torn West is struggling with how to impose better factories, but amid this chronic volatility it is questionable what will stick.

Thailand is not Bangladesh (which I note remains the “People’s Republic of…”) but the opposition there also doesn’t want a vote to go ahead, on Feb. 2, and has been occupying streets and buildings to try to thwart election preparations. The issues seem different but maybe the question comes down to when and which nations are able to process divisions democratically, respecting rights while balancing continuity and change. It’s an interesting conundrum for much of Asia. Cambodia had a boycotted ballot last September [SEE BELOW] and now it, too, has violent strikes. Malaysia held a vote in which the ruling group lost the count but won the seats–and now is doing at least a few things right, cutting inefficient subsidies. Will it keep peace, however? The Philippines routinely suffers political killings in its outer islands, and of course Benazir Bhutto met her end in Pakistan in campaign carnage that is still reverberating. Myanmar/Burma is getting set for a presidential poll that may be opened to longtime dissident Aung San Suu Kyi, but will it resolve bloody conflicts in that land?

Even the “world’s biggest democracy,” India, will struggle to settle electoral matters peaceably this year. No wonder the remaining Communist regimes and their curious fans cluck about democracy’s inherent fractiousness. The essential problem likely runs deeper than balloting, though. Civil society, rule of law, honest character and a good constitution are all preconditions for respected elections–and traits that at the same time might yield decent government that doesn’t require everything to be settled by majority rule. Ever more prosperous Asia must keep trying to find right ways, in the presence of far too many bad examples.

UPDATE 1/5: The Cambodian vote was disputed rather than boycotted–the resulting parliament was boycotted by the opposition. Now the ruling forces have cracked down on the street protests to secure their hold.

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The bottom line is in a good number of countries in Asia (for that matter in other continents too), political leaders are not keen to know what democracy actually means. They tend to associate democracy with power; as long as one grabs the power, no matter how undemocratic it may be, one automatically becomes the unquestionable democratic leader. Unabashedly, this will go on for many more years. (btt1943)